North Carolina
Department of Health and Human Services

Grant awards focus on care enhancements
in N.C. nursing homes

RALEIGH – Sixteen skilled nursing facilities in North Carolina are winners of grants of up to $15,000 each to improve the quality of care and the quality of life for their residents.

The more than $224,000 in grant funds come from federal fines levied against nursing homes in the state for deficiencies in the provision of care.

Grants ranging from about $11,000 to $15,000 will be distributed beginning next month to the facilities whose applications were approved. Uses include renovations, gardens and courtyards, computer rooms, media rooms, playgrounds, incorporation of buffet dining services, and resident pampering with the addition of a spa.

“With these projects, residents win and the facilities and their staffs win,” said Nadine Pfeiffer , grant coordinator and a nurse consultant in the N.C. Division of Facility Services. “The outcomes for all these facilities will be measurable, and they will be positive. We extend our congratulations to all those who applied and encourage those who did not win, if they can, to go forward with their plans on their own.”

Grants are to be distributed by the N.C. Coalition for Long-Term Care Enhancement to 16 of 35 applicants. Advocacy groups, industry providers and regulators comprise the coalition. Recipient's efforts will be performance monitored and evaluated for possible modeling for industry application.

The grants are aimed at helping facilities provide a more comfortable and more stimulating atmosphere for their residents.

Funding is provided through the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which reverts fines levied against nursing homes in the state for use in improving nursing home care. In previous years the reverted fines have been used for similar purposes.

A list of the recipients, grant amounts and project descriptions follows: